Journal of pediatric nursing
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An exploratory, qualitative study with tenets from grounded theory was used to elicit detailed descriptions of adolescents' chronic illness experiences. The philosophy of symbolic interactionism guided this study. Understanding the adolescents' experiences included exploring adolescents' perspectives of the following: (1) what it is like to have a chronic illness, and (2) how they deal with having a chronic illness. ⋯ Adolescents experience extra effort, restriction, pain, and additional worries because of having a chronic illness. However, adolescents also clearly had ways to help them deal with their illness. These strategies and recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.